The Fox In A Snake Pit! Story 2

muggles and muggle-borns

~With Draco~ 

Draco dashed down the stairs upon hearing Lockheart's announcement that Harry was taking photos with him for the Daily Prophet. His face contorted with fury. 'Why would Lockheart choose Potter over me or Jade?' he seethed. 

Draco watched with a mix of awe and amusement as the crowd erupted into cheers and applause as Lockheart presented Harry with his extensive collection of written books. 

As Potter made his way out of the crowd, he managed to stand next to an unfamiliar red-headed witch Draco assumed was a Weasley due to the poor excuse of a cauldron she'd been standing next to. 

"You can have these," Harry mumbled to her, tipping the books into the cauldron. 

"I'll buy my own-"

"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?" said Draco with a sneer. "Famous Harry Potter," he continued. "Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page."

Ginny, the redhead whose name Draco soon would learn, came to Harry's defense, saying, "Leave him alone! He never asked for any of this!" Her eyes burned with fury as she glared at Draco. 

Malfoy, with his usual arrogance, drawled, "So, Potter, you've managed to snag yourself a girlfriend!" Ginny turned scarlet as Ron and Hermione engaged in a heated argument while clutching stacks of Lockhart's books. 

"The same could be said of you about Jade," Harry muttered under his breath, looking behind Malfoy, where Jade was now standing. 

Draco was about to say something against the acquisition but stopped when Ron finally made his way over to them.

"Oh, it's you," said Ron, looking at Draco as if he were something unpleasant on the sole of his shoe. "Bet you're surprised to see Harry here, eh?"

Draco, who was taken aback by Ron's comment, replied with a snarky remark of his own. "Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley," he retorted.

Jade smirked, causing Draco to glance behind himself, suddenly realizing she had been standing right behind him. 

Draco said cheekily, "I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for all that." Ron's face turned red as Ginny's, and he angrily dropped his books into the cauldron. He started toward Draco, but Harry and Hermione grabbed the back of his jacket, preventing him from advancing any further. Draco just smirked, enjoying the situation.

"Ron!" exclaimed Mr. Weasley. As he, Fred, and George struggled their way through the crowded room. "What are you doing? Let's step outside."

"Well, well, well, Arthur Weasley," Lucius drawled as he walked into the bookstore, his voice dripping with disdain. He positioned himself beside Draco, his hand resting on his son's shoulder, mirroring the same contemptuous sneer. 

Mr. Weasley greeted Lucius with a curt nod, his tone laced with a hint of frostiness. 

"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," said Lucius. "All those extra raids... I do hope they're paying you overtime?" 

Lucius reached into Ginny's cauldron and extracted, from among the glossy Lockhart books, a very old, very battered copy of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration. 

"Judging from the state of this... Obviously not," Lucius said, his voice filled with disdain. "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"